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While Omaha may look very similar to Texas Hold ‘Em at first glance, it is far more complex, with many more hands being possible due to the four hole cards that every player has to choose from, and consequently pots are larger and the number of players willing to see the flop is also higher, but this very fact makes it an exciting and profitable game to master.
Despite its popularity in casinos up and down the country in the UK, online it has hardly even started to take off. This is largely due to the large number of American players you will find online, to whom the Omaha variant of poker is an alien concept.
In Omaha each player must use two of their own cards, no more, no less, in combination with three cards from the community board, to make their best poker hand. The betting rounds are the same as in Hold 'Em, with a small and big blind and betting after the initial deal, the flop, the turn and the river.
Because each starting hand contains four cards, there is a greatly increased chance of making the best possible hand (the nuts), compared to what you will find in Texas Hold’Em.
You will find players entering pots with a wide range of cards, hoping for a favourable flop, thus making that unlikely hand far more likely to appear. Due to this, you should always be holding, or drawing to the strongest possible hand. If you are looking for the flush, if it’s not Ace high, then don’t bet aggressively, now call large bets, you are probably behind, especially in multi-way action.
Starting Hands
Omaha hands are ranked exactly as you find in Texas Hold’Em, but unlike Hold 'Em, some hands are almost worthless. As a general guide, you should look for starting hands where all four cards are connected e.g. KQJT, QQJJ or QQJT. Hands like this can make the maximum number of "good" combinations of two cards, especially if they are also suited. The two strongest starting hands are AAKK and AAJ10, both double suited (ie. Ace of clubs/Jack of clubs – Ace of hearts/Ten of hearts).
Weak hands would be unconnected or contain three of a kind already, such as K952 or 8882. All having three of a kind in the hand does, is make your chances of hitting a good hidden hand next to impossible, think how good AAAA would look, and then think how often an unimproved pair of aces wins in Hold’Em, now understand that all the players have twice the number of pocket cards and you can see easily how weak four of a kind in the pocket really is. Hands such as these can make fewer good combinations of two cards and will not hit the flop enough times to make them playable. Slightly better are hands with two matching connectors such as QJ65, but even here, you need to hit the flop hard, as this is still weaker than when all your cards are connected and you can mix and match with the flop.
Hands with low suited connectors or small pairs can often be dangerous as making the straight, flush or full house may not be enough. It can be difficult to pass but do you have the nuts? As a rough guide 9876 (double suited) should be toward the lower end of automatically playable hands.
The Flop
Even if a player is holding a monster, the flop can change everything. By its very nature, the value of your holding can swing dramatically on each street of Omaha. By the time the flop has been dealt, each player knows seven of the nine cards that will be available, so a reasonably informed decision about whether to continue can be made. Because there are so many combinations of playable starting hands, most flops can be assumed to have hit someone, depending of course, on how many players are still in. It is usually best to fold and commit nothing more to the pot if the flop has been missed e.g. AAKK might look fantastic pre-flop, but when 789 appears, you should be very wary of the JT, only really looking to continue if you have a flush draw to back up the high pairs that may make back door full houses. Where there is no flush draw, you should fold to any betting.
There are typically three types of flop in Omaha and depending upon which type is turned, the betting can vary dramatically .
A Made Flop
When the flop is so good that you immediately have a made hand – eg. 678 and you hold 9T. However beware of a weak made hand, because the poorer the flop, the greater the betting is likely to be as players attempt to outdraw it e.g. a flop of 6h 7c 8h means that your 9T is the nuts at the moment, but players holding hearts, pairs or a set, or even players that have JT may all stay in the pot to see if the turn or river completes their stronger hand. A flop of 887 would mean that a full house was already possible and players holding straightening or flushing cards would most likely not be calling if there was any action, so your 9T straight possibility is not looking too good.
Mixed Flops
Where there is no draw without another card e.g. Jd, 7c, 2h. These flops tend to have limited betting, as they really help no-one unless they are holding a big pair or have hit a set.
Action Flops
e.g. Jh, Tc, 3h. Flops like this have no made hand possibility, but throw up big draws, as there is a flush and straight draw on board. There is likely to be more than one player drawing to these hands, not forgetting anyone on overpairs or having hit their set. A board like this will often see strong betting, so if you’re drawing, it better be a very strong draw.
Finally, Do’s and Don’ts
1. Do practice good starting hand selection - patience and discipline are even more important than in Texas Hold’Em.
2. Try to have back-up outs, a straight draw alone is relatively weak, it would help to have a flush draw in reserve.
3. Don't chase straights or flushes that wont give the best possible.
4. Never chase a draw when there is a pair on board that you haven’t hit.
5. Don't give free cards – unlike hold’em where you may get away with slow playing a monster, your monster can soon become worthless on the very next card such are the options in Omaha.
6. Don't overvalue low full-houses – If you have 88 on a board of 48TTQ, a full-house of eights over Tens is not likely to be the best hand, call it down if the betting is cheap enough.
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